New Home. New Closets. Same Skeletons.

Heaviness followed me across the state lines.

I’m sitting here writing at a new coffeehouse, in a new town that is just down the street from my new house.

I’m surrounded by so many beginnings in my life that I can’t go a few minutes without bumping into a new one. So, with all of that going on - I have a question:

Why do I feel the same?

My physical life has moved on to somewhere different, yet my soul seems still stuck in the same sort mud I was in before I uprooted my life. I have moved hundreds and hundreds of miles away from the place where I have lived my whole life - but the part of me that hoped I would leave behind remains right here inside of me.

I haven’t let go of all the needless, weighty things I have been carrying for years. I thought the move would shake my hands open and all those old world trinkets shaped like my ego would have dropped.

I must be clenching my fists too tightly for me to let go of anything.

It’s time to open my hands so wide

that they start to look like doves.

---

 I’ve learned—
not every
moving box
needs to be unpacked.

We aren’t meant
to carry
it all
with us—

it’s hard
to start fresh
while running
an antique shop.

Sometimes
saying goodbye
means
not giving the old ways
a place
on our
new shelf.

Help me
find peace
in the empty spaces—

the quiet rooms
where echoes live,
still waiting
to be filled
with laughter,

   with light,

       with people
       I don’t yet know
       but already
       love
       a little.

there is always 
room for what hasn’t 
arrived yet. 

(john “eyebrow influencer” roedel)

---

Have you ever wondered why this little poet friend of yours is afraid of ventriloquism and speedos? Do you ever ponder if he has found himself at 14 stuck atop a chain linked fence in front of a slew of cackling teenage boys? Do you want to know about the time he snuck out into his dad’s car to use CB radio so he could learn how to swear and to experience poetry for the first time ever?

Are you curious about how this poet’s heart start to crack open years ago?

Well…you’re in luck! 🤠

For information on John’s upcoming writing retreats or performances please visit this link:

To book John for your event, please reach out to info@johnroedel.com